1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of portable computing devices. In particular, the present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for the backlighting of a digitized input area for portable computing devices.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the xe2x80x9cpalmtopxe2x80x9d computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can be xe2x80x9cpalm-sized.xe2x80x9d Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer and electronic notepads, to name a few.
Since palmtop computer systems are very small, full-sized keyboards are generally not efficient input devices. Palmtop computers using keyboards have keyboard devices that are so small that a user cannot touch-type. Furthermore, to use a keyboard device, a user must either place the palmtop computer system down onto a flat surface, so the user can type with both hands, or the user holds the palmtop computer system with two hands and types with thumbs only.
Instead of a keyboard device, some palmtop computers utilize a pen and a digitizer pad as an input system. The pen and digitizer pad combination works well for palmtop computers because the arrangement allows a user to hold the palmtop computer system in one hand while writing with the pen onto the digitizer pad with the other hand. A number of palmtop computer systems that rely on the pen and digitizer pad combination as the primary means of input have been introduced to the market. Most of these pen-based palmtop computer systems provide some type of handwriting recognition system whereby the user can write words and letters on the digitizer pad with a stylus. The palmtop computer system then converts the user""s handwriting into a machine readable format such as ASCII code characters. Examples of pen-based palmtop computer systems that provide handwriting recognition include the Palm Pilot, the Apple Newton, and the Tandy Zoomer devices.
Although this combination of a display area with a separate digitizer pad input area has proven to be a success in the marketplace, there some drawbacks. One drawback to this configuration is that the prior art designs do not backlight the digitizer pad. In otherwords, the digitizer pad remains in its passive background color. One of the reasons that prior art palmtop computers have failed to backlight the digitizer pad is due to the merging of two hitherto separate functionalities. The display area is typically backlit because it is used to display information to the user. Ones skilled in the display arts recognize the need to backlight displays in order to better portray the displayed images. However, the input digitizer art area has primarily been focused on how best to capture information being input by a user. Since its primary function is as an input device, it was not considered to be part of a display. As with other types of input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, joystick, trackball, etc.), it was left as a passive, unlit device.
Unfortunately, because these palmtop computers are intentionally designed to be mobile and portable, they often find use in unlit or poor lighting conditions. It can be quite difficult and frustrating to use a palmtop computer in such darkened or low-light conditions. Due to its perpetually darkened state, there is no visual cue being fed back to the user. Consequently, in these low-light environments, it can be quite challenging or even impossible to input data via the unlit digitizer pad. In many instances, this defeats the purpose of even carrying around a palmtop computers and dramatically lessens their overall usefulness and appeal. Thus, there is a need in the prior art for providing a solution to this problem.
The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for backlighting a handwriting input area for a portable computing device. The portable computing device includes a display area for displaying alphanumeric data and other images. Underneath the display area is a digitizer input area by which users enter handwritten information into the portable computing device. The portable computing device contains handwriting recognition software which converts the handwritten information into alphanumeric data. Both the display area and the digitizer input area are both backlit to facilitate usage in poor lighting conditions. And even under well-lit conditions, it may be more visually appealing, gratifying, and stimulating to backlight the digitizer input area.